Ex-amex Chief Tapped For Sec

April 29, 1993|by JOHN H. CUSHMAN JR., The New York Times

After long deliberations, the Clinton administration yesterday nominated Arthur Levitt Jr., a publisher who formerly headed the American Stock Exchange, as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The selection of Levitt had been expected for weeks, but was held up by a number of factors: the required review of his finances; a politically sensitive decision to pass over an aide to Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich.; and the backlog in reviewing candidates for a long list of other administration financial positions that remain unfilled.

The administration has been trying to appoint minorities and women to more key financial posts, and for some time the front-runner to replace Richard C. Breeden as SEC chairman was considered to be Consuela Washington, a black woman who works for Dingell on a House committee that oversees the agency's work.

But Levitt, 62, had worked with the powers of Wall Street for many years and had substantial backing. He also helped raise millions of dollars for the Clinton campaign.

Among the publications owned by Levitt Media Co. of New York is Roll Call, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill. It was not clear what steps Levitt might have to take to sequester himself from the company, which is not publicly traded, during his SEC tenure.

For months, SEC commissioners and staff members had been awaiting word of a new chairman. Breeden, a Republican who was appointed SEC chairman by President George Bush in 1989, had extended his planned departure from the independent regulatory agency, where he had closely allied himself with the Bush administration.

Levitt's nomination goes to the Senate for confirmation. Although it is difficult to say what effect Levitt's selection would have on the agency that regulates trading in stocks and bonds, some areas of his background might provide clues.

For example, he has had a longtime interest in growing, entrepreneurial companies like those whose shares are commonly traded on the Amex.

He has been the head of New York City's Economic Development Corp., and last summer, in an article with Roger C. Altman for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, called for the city to work more closely with the private sector to create jobs.

Altman, who at the time was an investment banker and head of the Mayor's Management Advisory Task Force, is now deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.